College Rankings for IBD in NYC:
Based on placement in NY, not on academics. Things can vary, but this is a solid list for people trying to get to schools with consistent placement:
Wharton Harvard Columbia Yale U Chicago NYU Cornell Princeton Stanford MIT Dartmouth Brown Northwestern UVA Notre Dame Duke Emory Lehigh Georgetown Michigan UT Austin UNC Claremont McKenna Vanderbilt Penn State Villanova Middlebury Indiana U of Florida Fordham Texas A&M Georgia Wake Forest SMU Boston College Minnesota USC Michigan State Ohio State U of Illinois Missouri Rutgers FSU Iowa Alabama Ole Miss Arizona State
Look who went to Lehigh
I actually never attended college.
Big Ten and SEC schools with huge alumni bases (and schools with nationally recognized sports programs) are pretty underrated. They obviously don’t place a ton of folks but when I worked in IB I was still a little surprised at how folks were willing to go to bat for a Big Ten/SEC/Big 12 kid.
Over the years I’ve met handfuls of kids from Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Iowa at different networking events. Mostly from regional offices.
I agree. I've seen a lot of state schools, like you mentioned, and the top kids there do just as good of a job. They're usually very passionate, technically proficient, and fun to work with.
Have seen and worked with across many cities.
Just imagine how low per capita BB placement is at these schools with hoards and hoards of finance kids
lets take Rutgers for example. 10k kids per class, assume 25% are finance -> 2.5k
of course not all will recruit for IB, but let’s not get too complicated.
say, conservatively (it’s probably less), 25 kids place BB or EB each year…
thats 1%
Dawg, Ib has a 1% rate based on applicants. Sounds about right. Why’re you mad, did a Rutgers kid place better than you?
I understand your math, and you arent wrong. However, what you have to understand is that kids at non-target state schools don't live and breathe finance. They are more interested in figuring out how they are going to get laid this weekend than why their corpfin professor didn't like their WACC assumptions. 90% of kids don't know or care about what IB is and end up in F500 rotational programs, no name consulting, big 4, etc. At my big10, nearly everyone who put in strong effort to get an offer got one at at least a regional bank like 5/3 or something with most getting solid MM or BB/EB.
Okay, some of your assumptions are off if Rutgers is comparable. At my Big 10 school (Wisconsin), only about 1 of 6 students is admitted into the business school. About 1100 each year, so roughly 5000 out of 30ish thousand total students. Of those 1100, 300 received a finance degree in the latest school year with data. And of those 300, I’m counting probably 30 in Banking, 5 S&T, a few direct investing roles, 5ish equity research. So let’s say 40/300 so 13% of finance majors break into high finance each year. And then in other programs like engineering and economics, the percentage is far lower, but probably 5 engineers end up in some high finance role and probably 10 economics majors (including yours truly) break into front office finance roles. So total number of 55 split across banking, ER, S&T, and direct investing. Roughly half place into NY offices despite the Midwest location so maybe 20ish to New York.
Side note, if we include Real Estate majors from Wisconsin, then these numbers would increase for real estate private equity, debt shops, life co.’s, etc. but this is the best measurement for pure front office finance.
So 13.33% of finance majors, 2.7% of business students, and .2% of all students break into front office roles from Wisconsin.
Junior here who did a ton of research back when weighing HYP vs. full-ride RU.
I think your numbers are way off. Their business school's enrollment totaled 8k in 2021. 2k per class @ 25% finance means 500 prospects. Assuming 25 placements / 500 = 5%.
Definitely low, but I'd argue you're using the wrong benchmark -- it's better to look at those who self-select for IB. Blankly saying that target placement is >50% underestimates targets since, at least from my experience at HYP, 95% of those who want an offer get it (5% for unlucky outliers). If placement really was only >50%, going to a target would be no better than a slightly-weighted coin toss.
It also underestimates nontargets. My high school friends at RU tell me their high-finance club sees attendance from ~100 per class. Those 100 actually self-selected, so 25 / 100 = 25%.
That being said, I don't see many of those kids (besides Michigan, Vanderbilt, etc) send much to NYC. Regional offices? Sure, I believe that, but I'm sure it's still dominated by local powerhouses like Duke, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Chicago, Northwestern, etc
Sure. I’m just saying if you go to one of these lower tiered school you can be “successful” in your path to NY if you’re in the top 10-20 of your class. Just showing a spectrum
It’s statistically so hard to make it to NYC IB from one of those schools. If you’re one of the handful of kids who make it out of those massive undergrad business school, you must be exceptional at something. Maybe you’re exceptionally well connected or exceptionally lucky, but you have to be in the 99th percentile of some trait to be the one who gets to the street.
So? Exceptional people get exceptional jobs, these kids often just can’t afford Ivy leagues, or didn’t study SAT enough. I’ve interviewed them many times. They know their banks, technicals, and are very interested in the space.
It’s not an anomaly, these schools places very well every year. May be a large school, but only like 50 want to do banking in NY though. It’s comparable.
seeing arizona state on the same list as harvard is a disgrace
They place.
yea no shit theres like 70k undergrads there u moron
harvard = ugly minority goblins
asu = sorority goddesses
What
Wait is this in order meaning 1 being the best?
I’d say it’s a continuum, not a definitive ranking. High usually places better than the latter. Just trying to show the diversity of candidates for prospective students.
CMU?
Kinda forgot, never really see them as much. Pretty small presence, but good school
So how did you compile this list? It seems like this is literally anecdotal or off of the top of your head.
Been stated above, this is a diverse range of schools that consistently place kids in NY. Shows possibilities for prospective students. I my self didn’t even go to one of these.
This list is pretty shit considering all the party schools but would add more of the NESCACs (they all place pretty well) and some of the elite STEM/engineering schools that don’t have a huge IB alum presence but have the prestige for kids who do want to do IB to place (MIT, JHU, CMU, Georgia tech, even Rice) plus some others (WashU, Tufts, Wake, Tulane)
Sorry you feel that way
Realistically, it's more like this, for any high schoolers actually interested. This is mostly based on per placement capita, interest from the student body and % of IB classes. Of course, I think I'm mixing in a bit of buy-side prowess in here, but that would be a whole different list, with WHPD making up the top 4. Just my 2 cents as my team's recruiting lead.
This is good
Thanks! I think a lot of these rankings are done by undergrads and high schoolers who treat opinion on this forum like fact. Figured it would be good to showcase how analysts/associates think when we lead recruiting efforts.
It's also important to note that a lot of the schools in the first three tiers are also shifting away from IB, which a lot of high schoolers obviously don't know about.
Georgetown should be in 3rd bucket at the lowest if you're going by the number of FT analysts they produce each year...They place a similar number to Harvard/Wharton. It's likely they send more FT analysts to NY than MIT, Brown, Stanford, Northwestern, and Duke. NYU is also missing and should be in 2nd or 3rd.
No, you're right. Georgetown does send a lot, especially from their business school. I think by my metrics of general student interest and per placement capita, I think they're pretty in line with Cornell and Chicago in the third tier. I actually did have NYU (as Stern) in the 4th tier, but that was more of an arbitrary drop because of the quality of their placement per capita, compared to the schools in the third tier and up. Of course, this all can be argued either way, but just my thoughts and viewpoints.
think uchicago places lights out now and should be 2.
Not really for IB in NYC. In terms of pure numbers, they're not that common. I see them a lot on the quant side though, which makes sense due to the presence of Booth and its availability to undergrads.
Agreed
Would have thought Williams would be higher. Interesting.
there fixed it for you
H P S and M placing well is a fucking joke. Penn State places more than all 4 of those shitters combined. UVA, USC, UMich, Notre Dame and Georgetown are hyper-dominant.
I like this energy
Hey boss you forgot Akron, Ball State, Seton Hall, and Georgia State
Not at any of these schools but got an offer at a very respectable firm. Moral of the story, don’t get your self so stressed about getting into the right school for banking that you let it eat up your life. Choose where you want to go to school based on where you see yourself developing most as a person while simultaneously having the most fun. If you are a motivated, bright individual you can get a job in IB without following the path that most people on this forum stress out about. I’m not saying don’t factor a banking presence into your decision if it’s very important to you, but idk how anyone in high school could really even have that knowledge… just make a holistic decision and you will end up happiest. Hope this can help any high school kid stressing about finding the perfect path to employment and life already.
Thank you, this is what I’m trying to show. That any school basically has a chance (for students of all backgrounds). Top people at a mediocre school can place better than the lower candidates at an Ivy.
I'd love to see a list like this for SF IB
Went to Lehigh and working in banking. I still believe that Lehigh is a school that is still more geared towards placing students in Accounting Big 4; however, there are some unique placements and a pretty sufficient alumni base that work in IB.
Michigan below NT, Emory, and UVA?
Travesty
I don’t have a problem with any of the schools listed in this thread, but because this is WSO people get upset when anyone claims that a few kids from a school like Rutgers or Ohio State break in because it makes their chosen profession seem less selective/prestigious.
I’ve worked with kids from the usual targets like HYPSW, semi-targets and even non targets like Texas A&M and nobody cares about your school once you step foot into the office. The ones that do care (even after you’re on the job) are usually not the people you want to work with anyway.
When I worked in IB, one of the MD’s was an Ohio State grad. We ended up interviewing an Ohio State kid for a summer analyst role and as you’d expect the kid got push back from HYP guys despite checking all the boxes from GPA, technicals, and social skills. He got a shot and surprise surprise, he performed no differently than the other kids from better schools. Not saying this will be the case for every non-target/semi-target but the ones that do make it are usually there for a reason.
I agree with your general sentiment, but disagree with this idea that your school doesn’t matter once you set foot in the office / do good work / build a track record. People have and will always assume your intelligence based on what school you went to, even if it’s not true (often times isn’t true, there are morons at Ivies and geniuses at non-targets). Going to a good school also helps you have a stronger network and fit in better with the “elite” crowds. You’re always better off going to a better school if you can afford it.
Georgia (UGA) has much better IBD placement than Vandy. Vandy sends a lot more to consulting but each year we place 30 kids in IBD and 30 more in middle office roles at BBs.
Nice, glad to see that. I’d say they’re comparable schools. I personally work at GS/MS/JPM, and have seen multiple Vandy kids come through.
Is this a joke? Sure the Corsair society is good, but it’s not even close to the level of Vandy. Vandy places well at every BB and most EBs. Vandy has OCR for almost all BBs. UGA has no OCR. UGA is a good school and getting better but it’s not better than Vandy in anything but football.
Source: Work with multiple Vandy alum
Per capita placement at LACs is off the charts
Lacs?
literal arts colleges
Not really
Williams, Hamilton, Bowdoin, W&L, etc
Kid who never went to college trying to rank colleges is peak WSO.
This is basically college confidential
Cal?
Good for Cali
Honestly, since COVID started and the exodus of analysts began, IB recruitment is not that hard. Have mentored a number of people from unknown non-targets who have gotten top offers with decent GPAs and ECs. Most solid students at targets and semi-targets are aiming for tech or consulting, and if they like finance, they’ll shoot for some form of the buyside.
This is a very antidotal ST observation/ effect. LT careers in finance are higher paying, so candidates will go for IB/ PE. May have been a little easier for non-core kids due to virtual recruiting though.
Went to Lehigh, broke in post MBA...honestly don't think the school prepares students well for interviews. I will always make time for a kid from Bethlehem but frankly, the majority of them have left me pretty disappointed just from their sheer lack of understanding of the banking world and lack of preparation. Most of them seem to get all of their information from WSO, which completely distorts reality. I work for a group that places PE really well and is super targeted by people on this site, and we're absolutely not elitest when it comes to alma mater if the kid gets recommended for a first round, but when they can't even answer the basics or anything beyond a memorized accounting question, it's pretty damn disappointing.
And in no universe is Lehigh higher than Michigan when it comes to analyst recruiting. We on-campus recruit at like...5 schools, all the ones you would guess and Michigan is one of them.
Is it MS M&A? You’re anon anyway
Is school supposed to even prepare students for interviews? My understanding is that for most people it’s something you learn on your own…
Lehigh Alumni here - agreed out of college the only people that place are the ones who would have gotten in no matter what school they went to. Broke in after a big 4 stint. Most of the people from Lehigh who make it into banking/PE are generally those who hustle jobs after their first one post college.
Where's Williams, Amherst, or Middlebury? In NYC, they have a stronger presence than most large / (average and below-average) schools, despite their small size.
Just didn’t remember to, my bad
Georgia ranked way too high. Corsair places 99% into Citi because global head is a UGA alum. Total joke of a program.
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